


The Trouble With Fear Is How It Divided The Scarecrow

by Prime_Troubles



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Anti rural Sentiment, Bullying, Chance Meetings, Character Study, Hallucinations, Hurt, Imagined Attempted Execution, Introspection, Matter of Life and Death, Minor Violence, Not a Crossover, Referenced Bullying, Rural Hatred, Scarecrow's Fear Toxin (DCU), Tags May Change, Troubles (Haven)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-10 08:36:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14733614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prime_Troubles/pseuds/Prime_Troubles
Summary: One night while making the journey home Scarecrow encounters a stranger and uses fear toxin on her. However the effects were something that he had never seen or experienced. After being split into two people, Scarecrow realises that he needs her help to restore him into one person again or it will be the end of him.Fusion universe where Haven and the troubles exist in the Batman universe. Updates will be intermittent.





	1. Fear Backfired

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any content of any version of Batman or Haven.

It was a clear late autumn night and on this night the raid had failed. Batman had caught them in the act. Scarecrow had escaped the place before his thugs could make their escape. He didn't know if they were still there but he wouldn't be surprised if Batman had managed to capture at least one of them. They had been a small contingent and Scarecrow hadn't shared much of his plans with the thugs. At least this way they wouldn't be able to tell Batman much even if they did get caught. Still, the thugs could take care of themselves. Scarecrow had travelled some distance from the place that he had just raided and noticed no sign that Batman was pursuing him. The last he saw of Batman was in that building fighting the thugs. If nothing else, the thugs were at least a good distraction.

Scarecrow walked through the alleyways feeling sure that Batman wasn't following him. When he rounded a corner he saw a woman, who was well dressed for the season, alone, here in the back alleys. Why was she walking through the alleyways? Didn't she know how dangerous that could be? You never know what thugs or villains might be around.... As Scarecrow walked to her, he thought about how much he would like to use his fear toxin again tonight. He had already used the gas on Batman to make his escape, but now he could use the needles on someone and study them, without needing to run away. She suddenly turned around and looked directly at him. She didn't scream, she slowly stepped back in the direction in which she was originally heading. Scarecrow flexed his right hand, the hand with the needles attached to each finger. He stepped closer at the same rate as she was stepping back. He needed to move quickly if he was going to do this. He could only jab her in the neck, she was so well covered with clothes. Suddenly he closed the gap and as she turned around to run, he jabbed her with the needles. She fell to her knees and started shaking. Scarecrow walked around to stand in front of her and observe.

However, there was a question on his mind, so he asked, "Why would you come here?"

She looked up at him with fear in her eyes and frowned. Still shaking, she moved to speak but no words came out.

Scarecrow edged slightly closer to her and asked, "What do you see? Tell me, what fear has gripped you in this way?"

She looked to him sternly and began to stand up slowly. As she neared her full height, she moved to speak again but suddenly flinched and then screamed. As she screamed, everything around them went completely white for a moment and Scarecrow felt strange as if he were coming apart on the atomic level. He began to feel lighter and different, almost as if he were losing his mind yet not losing his mind, like elements of his personality were leaving him yet he was still sane. Physically he felt disorientated but otherwise not very different. He shook his head in the vain hope of clearing the feeling but it was futile. The white disappeared in an instant, as quickly as it had arrived. As everything returned to visual perception, he looked across to the woman only to realise that he had somehow moved. He knew that he hadn't taken a step while everything had gone white, so how could he have moved? He was further away from the wall on the right before, he was sure. Seemingly to regain a balance that he had never lost, he looked to the left and was surprised when he saw another Scarecrow. The other Scarecrow looked exactly like him from the height and the costume to the details like the needles on the right hand. He looked exactly the same. Was he real? What had just happened?

The Scarecrows both looked to the woman, almost expecting her to explain what had just happened. She looked to the both of them individually and quickly. In a split second she turned and ran away. The Scarecrows gave chase and pursued her around the alleys and again reached the alley where Scarecrow had first encountered the woman, which this time they chased her straight through and turned a corner which led to the street. One of the Scarecrows shouted for her to stop just before the other one jumped on her back and they both fell to the ground with the Scarecrow landing on top of her. He got to his knees and flexed his right hand, chortling in anticipation.

The Scarecrow who was still standing moved to intervene, shouting to his counterpart, "No! Don't!"

The counterpart, who was still grinning and had a gleam in his eye, taunted in reply, "Why? What are you afraid of?"

"We need to know what happened to us back there. She might be able to help us. If you inject her with more toxin, she won't be able to tell us what just happened. You don't want that, do you?"

"Don't you think it's more likely that she will talk if I give her another dose? She has already managed to run once, another dose should keep her steady".

"She will be incoherent! We won't be able to learn anything from her if she goes into that state!"

"What are you going to do about it? For all we know, if you touch me you could end both of our lives. You don't want that, do you?"

"She has had enough already. I can't let you touch her!"

The woman was visibly shaking and crying, unable to move with one Scarecrow on her back. The Scarecrow who was still standing looked around for something he could use and picked up some rusty piping, which he was surprised to find here. This Scarecrow hurried to the side of his counterpart and struck him with it causing the latter to fall backwards in pain. As soon as the woman realised she was free, she got up and began to run only to trip over something just short of reaching the street. The Scarecrow who was still standing shouted for her to wait, while his counterpart grabbed the other end of the rusty piping. The woman got to her feet again and turned around to see the Scarecrows in a tug of war with each other, and she fled into the street and ran away as fast as she could manage.

The bruised Scarecrow complained, "She's getting away!"

The other Scarecrow dropped the piping and gave chase. She wasn't out of sight just yet. He could catch her if he was quick. As they ran along the side of the road, people around them began to scream and run away as they recognised the Scarecrow. He realised that it wouldn't be long before one of them contacted GCPD, and he couldn't risk getting caught no matter he badly he wanted answers. He gave up the chase and ran into a nearby alley where he hoped that he could sneak home without getting caught.


	2. Reflection

Martina hurried into her apartment and quickly locked the door behind her to make absolutely sure that no one could follow her inside. She leaned her back against the door and could feel that her arms were still shaking as she caught her breath. She was sure that she had lost him some time ago in what became the run home. She had just run, along the side of the roads, what would have taken her some 15 - 20 minutes to walk last week. She had only been in Gotham for little more than a week and already she had been attacked. But this attack was something else, unlike any she had encountered before coming to Gotham. She removed her light coloured trenchcoat and hung it on the coatrack before sitting down to steady her nerves.

She considered getting something to drink but when she looked to her hand, she could see that she was still too shaky for it. So much for a shortcut home. 'All you need to do is take these alleyways' Eleanor had said. 'It's quicker than your way' someone else had scoffed. Just what you need in your second week on the new job, a coworker giving bad advice, and another scoffing at you for your own good choices on top. Martina sighed. All she had to do was take that exact route through the alleys? Well that worked out so well. Nobody had warned Martina about scarecrows or just how deep the alleys go. Those alleys were a network of their own, make a wrong turn and you could walk out of them at a completely different place than your intended destination.

Of course Martina knew that Gotham had a reputation for being home to costumed criminals, but she had only ever heard of the Joker. Even that information was hard to come by where she had lived previously. Honestly she was glad to be away from the dirt and corruption of the rural town which she left behind. The story of how she heard about the Joker was itself a painful memory, one that she had no desire to relive now. For the minute she had bigger problems.

After she steadied herself somewhat, Martina started her after work routine of putting things away, watching television and having dinner, though not necessarily in that order. As she prepared dinner, she reflected on what had happened in the alley, meeting the scarecrow themed man. Why was he there? Why did he chase her? What did he even want? Surely he wanted something? Why did he do what he did? It didn't make sense to her. She had few male colleagues and she had only just met them a week ago. They hardly know her, what reason would any of them have to do this? Besides, how would any of them find the time to get into costume and follow her? It doesn't make sense for it to be one of them but then who could it be? She hasn't even met her neighbours yet, she just hasn't had the time because she has been either at work or unpacking. She had only just finished unpacking everything last weekend. A day after she gets her place to look like home as she wants it, she gets terrorised in an alley.

She doesn't know anyone in Gotham except for those who she knows from work. As she sat down to eat dinner, she continued reflecting on the events of the night. The man she had encountered in the alley was probably a stranger. What was in those needles? Martina dropped her fork and her hand shook at the memory. She was starting to recall the fear that it had caused her. She turned her hand into a fist and concentrated on making it still. After a minute her hand shook less and she returned to eating dinner. It was almost as if he had injected her with fear, but that's impossible, right? You can't incite someone to feel something that way, right? Regardless of the possibility, it is what she had felt. The feeling still comes and goes but it isn't as powerful as it was earlier.

Of course the next thing that had happened was that he had gone from being one scarecrow to two, that is how it appeared. Martina desperately hoped that it didn't mean what she thought. He couldn't have done that to himself or could he? No he couldn't, but what if she could? Martina shook again as she realised that there was only one way that the man who was in front of her in the alley could suddenly become two people. She couldn't deny how scared she was at the time.... But she isn't troubled! Martina put the dinner down and looked around for the phone. There was a call that she needed to make and it wasn't going to be pleasant.

.................................................................................................................................................................................................……………..……....

Meanwhile Scarecrow entered his own house and locked the door. He didn't have all of the supplies that he needed and the chase through the alleys and onto the road didn't help. For that matter it was also something he couldn't repeat. He is lucky to have evaded Batman. Scarecrow wondered what happened to his counterpart. Earlier, he had returned to the alley in search of his likely bruised counterpart but had found no sign of him. Presumably he had run away. There was a chance that he had been caught by Batman. In any case, Scarecrow had no way of knowing the fate of his counterpart.

He went into the basement to store the stolen supplies. Looking at his stock he still needed more, but he could address that problem later. For now he stored those supplies that he had managed to steal tonight. He removed his hat and his mask and looked at them. The hat was always a nice touch. He stared down at the burlap sack of a mask. It reminded him of everything that he had done while wearing it. He could never forget the fear that he had caused, the terror that he had brought upon people as the Scarecrow. Many times the reaction would be the same, but then there were people like Batman who proved resilient. The woman he encountered earlier tonight showed signs of resilience........ but there was something else. The moment everything went white was something entirely new. Certainly nothing that would be produced by fear toxin. He didn't imagine it and he was sure that he wasn't being affected by any hallucinogens either. He hasn't felt the same since that moment. Looking at the Scarecrow mask made him feel guilty, not victorious or like he was making progress, but guilty. Strange, he hadn't felt that way about causing fear in years. Something happened to him in that alley, something that he had yet to explain. Could it be because he used fear toxin or that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time?

He began to disconnect the needles from the costume. They still had an ample supply of toxin. He could refill their supply now, there was more around the basement. As he picked up a new canister, he wondered if he really should refill the needles supply. He raised an eyebrow at the fact that he was even doubting himself. At which point he realised that he needed to wear his mask if he was going to do this. Tonight had been unusual enough already without him exposing himself to his own toxin. He looked to the mask again and frowned. He still had yet to perfect the mask as a defence against his own toxin. As it was, it only gave him short term protection before the filters would fail. It was another thing that he needed to improve. He hesitated for a moment then put the mask back on considering it better to refill the needles supply now and not later. As he refilled the needles, there was a glimmer of hope in the back of his mind that he wouldn't need to use the needles again. He dismissed the idea of not using the needles again as a callback to the long gone hope of people no longer giving him reason to want revenge. At this stage he considered his ambition of spreading fear to be revenge for all of the mean spirited, evil things that had happened to him.

Once he had finished with the needles, he removed the mask again and changed out of the costume into his regular clothes. As he left the basement, he thought back to what had happened earlier in the alley. Something happened there that is making him feel the way he feels now. Although his doubts were no reason to worry, he couldn't explain why they had come to mind now. In all of his years of studying fear there were absolutely no cases that he had known where the reaction to fear was to make everything go white for a moment. He was sure that for as long as he was in the network of alleys that no one was following him. For that matter he was sure that no one was even remotely close to him while he was there. Yet when he encountered the woman, he had seen her before he heard her. Meaning that another person could have been close by. But then why set up such a trick, and for that matter how was it done? Why would a person do such a thing?

He continued with his thoughts as he proceeded to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. There is also the matter of the other Scarecrow. You can't materialise another Scarecrow out of thin air, especially not an exact looking duplicate. There could be no doubt that his costume was one of a kind, and yet another Scarecrow appeared. Moreover when they spoke, he had the same voice. When they conversed, it sounded almost as if he was having a conversation with himself. If he could find the other Scarecrow again, he would be able to find out who this other Scarecrow might be, and how they managed to copy him so well. How would he find the other man? They had a one time encounter in an alleyway where the other man had said 'For all we know, if you touch me you could end both of our lives'. He wasn't too familiar with theoretical physics but he had heard that if you meet another version of yourself and you touch the counterpart, to shake hands for instance, everything would go white and you would both blink out of existence as if neither had ever been born. The idea operated on a subatomic level with the suggestion that no two of the exact same object could exist in the exact same place at the exact same time. Admittedly this is something that he had read in a work of fiction a very long time ago. He couldn't recall which story this had happened in, but could that happen in real life?

He took the coffee into the living room and sat down, getting comfortable as he thought further about the events of the night. There is also the woman he met in the alley. He didn't learn much from her while they were in the alley. It appeared as if she were scared but not hallucinating. The toxin he had injected her with was strong enough to make her hallucinate but she appeared to resist. It looked like she fought the toxin but she didn't tell him anything about her fears. Yet only after encountering her did he start to have doubts about what he was doing. What had she done to him to make him feel this way? She hadn't said a word to him and for the most part he chased her. It was hardly the kind of thing that would give him doubts about fear. She did give him a hard stare but it didn't scare him even slightly. She couldn't be the cause of this yet such a thing has never happened to him before with anyone else. She did clearly look at the other Scarecrow for less than a second, and later he was on top of her for more than a minute. Surely if she could have escaped him, she would have done so?

He took another sip of the coffee in silent comfort as he thought further about events. Maybe something was wrong with the alley itself? It's highly unlikely and wouldn't make sense. If anything affected him there, it was either the woman who hadn't so much as touched him, or the other Scarecrow who may be a clever impostor playing a trick. There was nothing that this other Scarecrow had done to give him doubts either. However he couldn't allow an impostor to go unpunished and it would help to find out his identity to find out whoever orchestrated the act and why. He had no way to find the impostor, the man eluded his grasp when he chose to chase the woman. He couldn't shake the feeling that the woman played some part in this, her insight might be useful if he can get it. If these people are wandering alleys after dark then that might be the place to find them. Tomorrow he would retrace his steps and find this alley at the same hour that he was there tonight. If he was lucky there may even be some clues lying around and if he was especially lucky he might encounter one of the people he saw earlier. He was hoping to encounter at least one of them. He would have to dress as Scarecrow for this and show them that he cannot be manipulated.


	3. The Choice

So she is troubled. Calling home to find out exactly how her hereditary trouble worked had not been an easy or pleasant conversation at all. The trouble split people from being one individual into two, one good and one evil. The trouble was triggered by strong emotion and the person who triggered the emotion was the one who would be split. As no one since her grandfather had the trouble, Martina thought that the trouble had ceased to exist. However, after the phone call home, it became apparent that she had inherited the trouble. For most of her life Martina had been warned against becoming too emotional just in case it awoke the trouble. But she didn't choose this! The way she felt in the alley was not something that she wanted, it was something that happened _to_ her.

During the phone call, Martina was told the story of how one of her Victorian ancestors managed to reverse the effect of the trouble and remerge two people back into the one that they were originally. There were details missing to the story but if it had been done before then maybe it could be done again. Martina wanted to remerge the scarecrows but every time she thought about approaching one, her hand would shake in fear. The thought of encountering either scarecrow again.... gave her crushing dread. What is the alternative? Leave them alone? Allow them to live the rest of their now greatly shortened lives as two separate people? Martina could never do that, to let them die.... her hand shook again, though not through fear this time. It was too soon for remorse, they hadn't even been separated for a day yet.

Letting them perish would be morally tantamount to murder, she couldn't leave them in this condition. She couldn't in good conscience let them live their last days knowing that they were going to die without at least trying to remerge them. Martina wondered how many costumed criminals roamed Gotham. She has already met one that she didn't know existed, how many more were there? Martina shook away the thought of other criminals and returned her thoughts to the one that she had met. Was he well known in Gotham or was he new? Martina sat down in front of her computer and switched the machine on. As the computer loaded she thought back to the stories of instances when those who were split were never remerged. Often those people were never seen again by her ancestors. There were a small number of cases where one of the split people had died through an accident while their good/evil counterpart was still alive. Those instances.... need never have happened if only the troubles didn't exist. Such tragedy.... caused by the troubles. Martina had heard stories of people with other troubles, only suffering had ever come from the troubles. There was no such thing as a good trouble. The troubles were always dangerous in the stories that Martina had heard. In light of recent events, she didn't doubt their danger.

When the computer finished loading, Martina went online. She searched for scarecrows in Gotham and immediately found news articles about the guy. As she read them, she had no doubt _this_ is the one who she met in the alley. The one who she had unintentionally divided, is called the Scarecrow. It appeared that no one knew his real name and although Batman had tried several times to catch him, Scarecrow would always find a way to escape him. From what she read, Scarecrow specialised in fear tactics to the extent for it to be his running theme and he would carry fear toxin and/or gas with him wherever he would go. Martina could discern no clear pattern about the places that Scarecrow had targeted. He appeared to be a thief for some reason. There was also a physical description of him but he was already memorable enough from one meeting in an alley. It also claimed that his goal was to spread fear wherever he would go. There was even speculation about him in the comments section. There was nothing meaningfully insightful there from what she read. Apparently people had been calling him scarecrow since before he started dressing up as one. Yet the same person who claimed that gave no clue as to what his real identity might be. There was also an odd claim that he liked coffee.

Martina sighed. At least now she knew what to call him. For a second she thought about how it would sound if she started shouting 'scarecrow' in her old town. But she quickly realised that she would only get hated for it, maybe even flamed. She frowned, the malice of rural types knows no bounds. Quick to take her thoughts away from her depressing, dilapidated, corrupt old town, she made the choice. Martina would look for Scarecrow. Finding even one of him would be a start even though it would likely take a lot of persuasion to get him to help find his counterpart, if he even believes her story at all. This is also assuming that he is willing to listen. This was not going to be easy.

One question remained. How would she find him? They met in that alley so that seemed to be the best place to start. Why would he go to the same place two days in a row? It was a longshot but she had to try. Why use fear? Surely there are better ways of dealing with people. She thought back to what life was like when she lived in the town. Use of fear in self defence would have made sense there. Perhaps it wasn't so ridiculous to use fear. Still, to do it without provocation was overkill. Thinking about it, the only time she had to look for him was after work. It would be the most interesting part of her day and likely the most uncivil. So she would look for him after work tomorrow and if she can't find him then, she would need a new plan.


	4. Fear Backfired Part 2

It hadn't been a happy day at work but such was the necessity of living in Gotham. There was no way that Martina was moving back to town. Nothing would stop her from making the best of her life in this place, not even Scarecrow. For that matter not even the black of night that she was walking through could stop her. She had spoken to Eleanor again today. It had transpired that Eleanor believed that the chances of encountering anyone in the alleyways was slim to none. Martina withheld the fact that she met Scarecrow on her first venture into the alleyways. At least Eleanor had been good enough to apologise, that one at least had a good heart, which is more than can be said for some others. Martina frowned as she thought about a certain other coworker who held only snide for her. At the moment, Martina wasn't interested in remembering her name as there were more important things to consider. Besides, such types were the reason she left her old town, but perhaps even in the city you get the occasional snide gossip.

She was really doing this, looking for the Scarecrow. He had caused her an almost insurmountable amount of fear when they last met and now she was looking for him. She did her level best to fight the fear last time but it wasn't enough, it caused her trouble to surface. So because her trouble surfaced she is now looking for the man who made her feel that way in the first place in the hope of saving his life. As she continued walking through the alleyways to where they had first met, she felt herself begin to sweat nervously, and she reminded herself that she might not find him at all. Even if she did find him, he wouldn't be the same person who she met yesterday. She had unwillingly separated him into his good and bad sides. Who could be the same after such an experience?

She rounded a corner and entered the alleyway where they had first met yesterday. It looked just the same as it had then, not that it was likely to change much overnight. Even with the possibility of finding the malicious Scarecrow as reason to be afraid, Martina remained determined. She had to find a way to remerge them and finding the both of them was the first step. As Martina wondered how the Scarecrows would interact with each other if they both knew, she remembered how one of them had struck the other which allowed her the chance to escape yesterday. Unless of course someone else had struck him....

"Why have you come back here?" said a voice from behind her.

Martina spun around to see Scarecrow, yet which one was he? He looked the same as he did yesterday for sure.

"I thought you might be here", Martina replied.

"Whatever makes you think that?"

Martina visibly looked around.

She said, "This must be a regular route for you".

Scarecrow leaned in slightly and tilted his head for a moment.

He said, "What makes you so sure?"

"You're here now, you were here yesterday. If I saw you here again tomorrow, I would call it a pattern".

"Would you?"

He paused as she nodded.

He then continued, "Tell me, why are you here? This doesn't seem like the kind of place where I would usually find one such as yourself. There must be some reason why you are here".

She answered, "I'm looking for you".

"What do you want with me?"

Martina drew in a breath. Hopefully he would listen. She looked him straight in the eye as she started.

"I know that there is more than one of you. I want to find both you-".

"Why?", he intervened.

"Because I know you're not supposed to be two people, you're supposed to be one!"

Before she could say any more Scarecrow intervened again, this time moving closer to her. Somehow she could tell that he was frowning. His mask had clearly moved downwards.

"What have you done to me?!"

Martina stepped back and answered, "It's not my fault! I didn't mean to do it - I couldn't help it!"

She stepped back further, visibly shaking, wondering if he was going to inject her with fear toxin again. She eyed the arm with the needles. Scarecrow remained still where he stood and looked to her. What was he going to do?

He said, "Answer me".

She moved to speak but no words came out. As he stepped closer, she stepped back. Her back was almost against the wall. He raised his hand, eyed the needles and looked to her again. Just as she thought he was going to inject her again, he withdrew. He stepped back, though not far, and lowered his needle arm. She could escape now if she was quick, but that isn't why she came here. Why did he withdraw at the last moment?

She took in a shallower breath this time and steadied herself as best as she could manage. She said, "I want to help you return to the way you were before we ever met. To do that I need the other-"

Scarecrow interrupted her again, "What did you do to me? I must know".

"I.... It's my trouble. I would be glad to tell you what happened but you must never tell another person. If too many people know about the troubles...."

She frowned and looked to the side. Was there no way to do this without telling him about the troubles? If he were to ever seek out the troubles for himself.... surely someone in Haven would be able to stop him. He is already a wanted criminal, it isn't likely that he would get far even if he did know. It isn't as if many people would believe him, right?

He said, "There are many people who have troubles. Why do I get the feeling that there is something different about yours?"

She visibly swallowed. She said, "All you need to know is that I can help, if you're willing?"

"Willing? How do I know that you can even be trusted?"

"How do I know that I can ever trust you? You were the one who injected me with.... what? Fear toxin? Yes I did some research about you Scarecrow! It might interest you to know that it was the fear toxin that caused my trouble to surface! If you had never injected me with it yesterday, we wouldn't have this problem now. Now if you don't trust me, that's fine! I'll leave, but know this: this trouble that I have, which can split people into being two individuals, is fatal. If I don't remerge you both within two weeks, you will both die! Honestly you don't have a choice".

"That's impossible!"

"There's only one way to find out, and that's on you. Either you believe me or you don't but in any case you will find out if I'm telling the truth soon enough".

They both stood in silence for a moment. At this stage Martina considered that her next action may be to go home. She looked to the side as she considered this but Scarecrow spoke before she could move.

Scarecrow said, "Don't leave. Tell me more".

He wanted to know more? It didn't sound that way a minute ago.

She said, "You must promise not to tell anyone what I am going to tell you now. It must be a secret".

He answered in a stern tone, "Very well".

"I have a trouble. The trouble is triggered by extreme emotion. It can be any emotion, rage, sadness, fear, amusement, love, elation, any emotion you care to name. Usually it will split the person who triggered the feeling into two people. In exceptional cases, it can be directed at a person who is then split".

She shivered in worry at what she was going to say next but continued, "In all cases the person affected is split into two people, all of the good within the individual becomes one person and all of the dark, the bad impulses, the evil you could say, becomes the other person. A split person cannot survive for too long, no one knows why. There are theories but no one is certain. In any event the only way for a split person to survive, for the long term, is for that person to be remerged with their other self".

Scarecrow said, "I see. Why are you afraid that such information might become well known? What would anyone gain by attempting to abuse this trouble of yours?"

"It's a rule, the troubles must be kept a secret. It is to protect those who suffer from the troubles".

"You would have me believe that there are more troubles like yours?"

"It doesn't matter if you believe that other people suffer from the troubles. What matters is that no one else finds out about them. If they became common knowledge, you can't imagine what chaos that would bring".

"While I am not convinced that you are telling the truth, I will however keep your secret".

Martina exhaled in relief. Hopefully he would keep his word. She nodded to him and he reciprocated in kind.

Scarecrow enquired, "Have you seen this other person who you believe was once a part of me?"

She replied, "No I haven't seen him since yesterday. Where would he go?"

"I shall find him".

"I'm looking for him too. I need both of you together-".

"-No", Scarecrow interrupted, "I shall find him myself".

"What will you do if you find him?"

Scarecrow paused for a moment before giving his reply,"....I will.... talk to him".

"You said you would keep my secret".

"I will, your secret is safe with me. There are other things that I wish to discuss with him".

Scarecrow started walking to move past her to leave.

Before he passed Martina, she said, "This would be much easier if you would work with me. I only want to help".

Scarecrow looked to her and said, "As I have said, I don't believe you are telling the truth. There is nothing more to discuss".

As he walked past her, she turned around to see him leave. He was going deeper into the network of alleyways. Martina sighed. How would she find him again? Would she ever see him again? As she looked in the direction in which she left yesterday, she noticed some rusty piping on the ground. On closer inspection it looked like the piping had been moved. The rust clearly looked older on one side than the other. Evidently that side had been facing up for much longer than the other side. Was this here yesterday? It probably wasn't relevant but whoever had struck the man on her back yesterday would have needed to have used a hard object. There was no blood on the piping. If he had been hit with this then he didn't bleed. Still it would have hurt. This could help to tell the Scarecrows apart. The one who she had spoken to a few minutes ago didn't behave like an injured man, so now she needed to find the injured one. Perhaps he would also return here. Maybe he had already tried, saw the other Scarecrow and left.

Martina waited for 30 minutes for him to appear but he didn't appear. It was too cold for such a wait but Martina considered it to be worth the chance. It could be worth continuing her original route through the alleys just in case he appeared elsewhere within the alleys. By the time Martina had finished traversing the alleyways, there had been no sign of the other Scarecrow. She supposed that she had been lucky to meet one of them. If only he had believed her.

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Meanwhile Scarecrow hid behind a wall and watched as the woman investigated the alleyway. She found the rusty piping that he had used on his counterpart yesterday. He had acted in her defence when he had done that, perhaps she didn't realise that he was the one who had done it. But there was no one else around at the time. Perhaps she couldn't tell him apart from his counterpart. Her story implied this much. Her story was also highly unlikely. But in a world where people such as Poison Ivy and Mr Freeze could exist, surely such a thing wasn't impossible. It remained a strange ability for a person to have, if indeed she is telling the truth. What could she gain from it? Her 'trouble' as she describes it doesn't appear to help anyone or serve much purpose beyond causing an almost literal identity breakdown.

Scarecrow saw her move away from where she had visually examined the rusty piping and go back to where they had been talking. She merely stood there and was looking around. What was she hoping to accomplish? Since she said that she thought that he would go through this alley, perhaps she thought that the same would be true for the other man. How long was she going to wait for him? Evidently she didn't know where the other man was likely to go except for the possibility that he might return here. The counterpart didn't return home at any point overnight or today. If he had then Scarecrow would surely have spoken to him. He would have made a point of it. The only other place where Scarecrow thought that his counterpart was likely to stay was at the hideout. This logic only works if his counterpart is indeed someone who was once a part of him. Seeing that the woman appeared to be willing to wait a long time for his counterpart to appear, Scarecrow walked away.

Even if what she said is false, it is possible that the other man discovered the hideout. Even if the other man did discover the hideout, it doesn't mean that he would still be there now. There is no certain way to catch the man. If this other man had returned to any of the raid sites, he would likely have been caught by Batman. There would be nothing to gain from returning to those places anyway. Scarecrow had no leads as to where an impostor of him might go except for the hideout. Yet the events of yesterday might have led Batman to follow one or more of his thugs back to the hideout. It was the agreed meeting place for Scarecrow and his thugs. Still if there is even a chance that Batman had been there then Scarecrow couldn't risk it. It wasn't worth going to the hideout just to see whether an impostor had visited. The only place for Scarecrow to go now is home which would be a better place to consider these problems and perhaps formulate a strategy.


	5. Scarecrow Captured

Martina sighed without giving a thought as to how much she had sighed of late. She sat down to watch television, still weary from the events of the night. At least this time she didn't need to run home. She ached almost all over from exhaustion. Walking home from work was worth the money it saved. Travelling any other way was completely unaffordable but it was worth it just to live in Gotham, a nice, big, beautiful city with a nice, big population, and a handful of criminals but nothing is perfect. The news had just started showing on television. It must be that time. As she stretched her arms, she heard the newsreader mention Scarecrow. She leaned in to the television to be sure that what she was seeing matched what she heard. The newsreader claimed that Scarecrow had been caught by Batman sometime during the previous night after a factory raid. They also said that Batman had caught two accomplices as they were trying to make their escape from the factory. They also claimed that Batman had somehow managed to fight his way through a cloud of fear gas to catch these people and that this Scarecrow and his accomplices were being held at GCPD.

Martina leaned back where she sat. So that must be where the other Scarecrow had gone. She couldn't tell anyone at GCPD her story, they might throw her in the asylum! This said they might not believe her anyway. If she told Batman, would he understand? Martina speculated that he might accept the possibility that there is another Scarecrow roaming free, but what are the odds that he would believe that both Scarecrows are ultimately the same person? Perhaps it would be a simple matter of removing the masks of both Scarecrows. If he didn't believe that then surely there are other tests that could be done that would confirm his identity. Proving that both of the Scarecrows are the same person would appear to be the easy part. Telling the story of how they came to be in that condition would be another mess. One that would require more promises of secrecy.

Which Scarecrow was arrested, the good one or the bad one? Which one had she spoken to earlier? It was perhaps a good sign that he didn't try to attack her earlier though he did appear tempted. Perhaps he was the bad one? Whichever one he is remains unclear. There is only one place where she knows where to find him. If only he had been willing to work with her, they could have at least agreed to meet somewhere else. Even if he broke the law, that doesn't mean that he deserves to die. She could contact GCPD and tell them what happened yesterday. As she thought it, her heart sank. It was just after that incident in the alley when one of them pleaded with the other to stop attacking her. Whichever one did that helped her and that one surely didn't deserve prison. But is he the one who was arrested or the one she met earlier?

From what she had read yesterday, Scarecrow when he was one person was in the habit of scaring people. Yet when he was two people yesterday, in the alley, he seemed to be having the equivalent of an internal conflict with himself. Maybe now that the good and bad sides of him are apart, he can change. Whatever attracted him to using fear in the first place? Has separating him into two led one side of him to reconsider? Something told Martina that there was more to Scarecrow than meets the eye, even literally since he wears a mask. If there is a chance that he might change his ways then there is no reason to tell GCPD or Batman that there is another Scarecrow out there who is the same person as the one they are holding. But characteristically maybe he isn't the same person. Has he heard the news? What is he doing now? Martina could only speculate about the activities of the Scarecrow who still had his freedom. He said that he would look for his counterpart. What will he do when he finds out that his counterpart has been arrested?

Martina considered what she might do about this. If she left them both alone, one would die in prison which would raise questions. Questions such as how? Could this have been prevented? Perhaps there may be something detectable by modern science that would indicate that a trouble was the cause. No one around here has heard of the troubles right? What if someone from Haven heard about it? Martina sighed again. This was driving her to paranoia. The best thing that she could do is find the Scarecrow who does still have his freedom and if he is willing to cooperate, devise a plan to remerge him with his counterpart. Would he be in the alley again for the third night in a row? Martina had no other leads, it was the only place where she might find him. Tomorrow night she could try reasoning with him again. If that fails........ Martina didn't want to think about what she would or wouldn't do if she couldn't reason with him a second time, or indeed if he wasn't there at all.

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Jonathan switched the television off after watching the news. So GCPD believes that they have the Scarecrow. They are mistaken unless the woman in the alley was telling the truth. But he wouldn't make the mistake of being captured. For what seemed like a long time he had managed to evade capture. The one they have arrested couldn't be his counterpart yet there was no better explaination for how he felt and the doubts that were forming. He hesitated when he considered using fear toxin on the woman earlier tonight. He didn't want to hurt her and he couldn't explain what held him back. The thought of using the fear toxin on her again made him feel guilty. He thought that if he had used fear toxin on her, it would have made her incoherent. He knew that if he had done it, he would regret it. Yet he wasn't afraid of being split again. It was almost as if he had become afraid of hurting her.

He frowned at the thought. He strained to remember the last time he was afraid of scaring anyone. It didn't make sense to him. He was sure that he had conquered his fears, that he couldn't be scared by anything anymore. What had this woman done to make him feel fear again? She said it was her trouble which related to emotion. Could this be a form of defence against fear? Yet she claimed that it was when she was scared that she split him. So she could never be afraid? In both of the times where they had met it seemed like quite the opposite. She appeared to be fully capable of fear, but she implied that yesterday was the first time she had ever split a person which implied that what had happened to him couldn't be easily accomplished. So the fear toxin did work, it's just that it caused this 'trouble' to come into effect before he could discover her fears.

All of this information wasn't enough for him. He needed another person to confirm that she told the truth. He also needed to do this without telling anyone her secret. This would be straightforward to accomplish if only he could reach his counterpart. He couldn't just walk into GCPD and ask to see the Scarecrow. Only his counterpart could confirm whether they are truly the same and this would require a conversation with him. How could that be arranged? Jailbreak? Doing that would require thugs and if the news is any indication then he has only the one thug who managed to escape Batman. Just the two of them wouldn't be nearly enough to mount an attack on the GCPD. For that matter the one thug who did elude Batman would have to believe that the Scarecrow in custody was an impostor. He could make contact with the other thugs, those who he didn't bring to the raid yesterday, but that would take time. It's better that the thugs believe that Scarecrow has been arrested for now. There was no need for them to know about his problems.

Perhaps there is another way to reach his counterpart. He wasn't really on speaking terms with the other villains. Their paths had seldom crossed. Sneaking into GCPD wouldn't work without knowing where exactly within GCPD his counterpart was being held. But then maybe he didn't need to know where _exactly_ within GCPD his counterpart was being held. It would just be a matter of finding the cells, maybe the interview rooms if they are still trying to question him. He would still need to be able to navigate GCPD without being seen. There is one way he could do it but he might need a distraction. Perhaps if he released some of the prisoners, they might be able to distract the officers for long enough. He would still need to get that far first. Could he do it alone? This was not going to be easy. But it is the only way he could confirm the story that the woman he had met had told him.

He didn't even know her name. Breaking into GCPD is a major risk just to confirm her story. Would she be willing to help? He could always force her to assist. On that thought he began to feel guilty again. Such an action would likely cause her pain, he could lose his chance to understand her. Maybe he had already lost that chance. He was so surprised by her story that he didn't even consider getting to know her much. Her motives remain unclear. She said that she had split him by accident and her trouble was her method. There was no point in trying to research the troubles, if they exist. If they are a secret as she claims then there would be little to nothing to find. She couldn't be considered to be reliable until his counterpart corroborates her story.

All of this could be a trap to capture him. If he is going to break into GCPD then he would need to do it carefully. Luckily he had a plan for how he would do this, but he would have to go alone. He went into the basement and put on the Scarecrow costume. If nothing else they shouldn't be able to tell him apart from his counterpart, if indeed his counterpart is still in costume. It's a gamble but if it truly is a matter of life and death as the woman claimed then he needed to know one way or another.


End file.
